


So now you remember

by Aphroditedany



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Estrangement, F/M, Forced Marriage, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27959747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aphroditedany/pseuds/Aphroditedany
Summary: After divorcing Draco and letting their twins with him, Hermione decides to visit her children and ask for forgiveness.
Relationships: past Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy - Relationship
Comments: 11
Kudos: 28





	So now you remember

The rain was falling heavy on the ground as Hermione Granger was arriving at the new posh restaurant in Diagon Alley, where she had booked a table for four. 

For herself , her ex-husband and her children. 

The children she hadn't seen for ten years.

* * *

_When the abhorrent Marriage Law was enforced, she had only been 20. The Ministry hadn't even heard their pleas to reconsider. Harry was paired with Daphne Greengrass, Ron with Pansy Parkinson, Neville with Luna Lovegood... Many of them didn't know their future spouses enough, even downright hated them._

_She had been paired with Draco Malfoy._

_Needless to say, she hated him. She had never managed to forgive him about all he had put her through during their time at Hogwarts, and her torture at his auntie's hands at Malfoy Manor only made it worse._

_To her surprise, Draco was a decent husband. He never tried to sleep with her, they had sex only when they couldn't buy more time and Hermione had to get pregnant. As time passed, Draco started to slowly fall in love with her, and much to her dismay she found herself in love with him as well._

_It wasn't enough._

_The arrival of their children hadn't made the situation better. Scorpius and Aria were wonderful children, quiet and well- behaved, but Hermione only wanted to escape. From a man she hadn't married out of love, from a house she had never truly made hers, from two children she had been forced to conceive and bring to the world._

_The years required by the Law passed. By then, she had been more impatient than ever. Her marriage was dissolved in a matter of months, with two signatures. She had also given Draco full custody of their children._

_Her only goal now was the Ministry. Free from her marriage, she quickly rose in the ranks. At her 34th birthday, she was officially the youngest Minister of Magic._

_The Marriage Law was the first thing she got rid off._

_Alas, she wasn't as content as she thought she would have been._

* * *

Her children had already arrived, their postures rigid and cold. _Expected._

"Good evening Scorpius, Aria.", she greeted kindly. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation."

Aria spoke first. "We didn't want to come, trust me Mother. But Dad has raised us better than this. We didn't want to disappoint him."

"Ah... So he has talked to you about our marriage, our relationship. You have to know, none of us wanted to marry, but we were forced, and..."

Scorpius interrupted them, grey eyes aflame with fury. "We know that. What we don't know, is why this sudden interest about us. As far as I'm concerned, you don't care if we are dead or alive, healthy or sick. You never came for Christmas, for the Easter holidays, you never wanted to spend time with us at summer. You don't know in which Hogwarts House we were sorted in. We are practically non- existent for you."

Hermione sighed. "I know my mistakes. I know I wasn't the mother you needed. But you have to understand me. I was trapped in a marriage I didn't want, with a husband I didn't love. It's only now I realise how wrong I was. I denied my love for your father for so long, because I was a coward. I also denied my love for you. Please, let me fix this." She looked curiously at the empty seat beside her. "Where is your father? We talked yesterday and he told me he would try to come tonight."

Aria let out a hollow laugh. "You don't even bother to open the letters he sends you, do you?"

A sense of dread filled her stomach. "What do you mean? Is there something wrong?"

"Dad is sick. Multiple sclerosis. It manifested a year after you left him."

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. No, it wasn't true, she would have known...!

"But...But how?", she muttered. "Our magic protects us from everything, including our genes and our own immune system. This is why wizards are not affected by auto-immune deceases."

Scorpius answered this time, the pain in his voice evident. "You said so yourself. Our magic. His magic has been slowly abandoning him for years, his magical core is becoming weaker and weaker. The Healers say this might be his last year."

Everything started spinning around her... _No, no, no..._

_You're too late._

"Wanna know the most tragic part?" When she didn't respond, Scorpius continued, undeterred by her current state. "He still loves you. Dad still believes you will come back to us some day. Back to him. He never stopped loving you. He has never been with another woman. He refused to marry again. He's still saying he was lucky enough to have you, that he wasn't worthy of you." His voice was full of hate as he spoke the next words. "Imagine. Him, unworthy of you. Unworthy of the most hateful woman he ever met, the woman who never showed him she loved him, who practically denied her children. Her own children!"

Hermione's hands were shaking uncontrollably, her eyes were filled with unshed tears. "I didn't know. How could I...?"

"You could have sent a letter." Aria's rage was worse than her brother's, her amber eyes looking her her with open disdain. "You could have kept in touch with us. You could have stayed with us, with father. Since you say you love him so much. Where were you all these years? Where were you, Granger?"

She had no response. Her throat was dry.

Both children stood up and grabbed their coats. Before they left the table, Aria grabbed her by her wrist. "If you truly mean that you love him, save him. His magic can be replenished if someone who loves him shares their own magic with him. Then, his immune system will stop attacking him and the damages in his brain and his spine will be healed. But know this. We won't let you destroy him again. We love him far too much to see him drowning in despair. He deserves so much better than you, but he chose you and we can't force him love another. And you will never become a true mother to us. Never."

* * *

Hermione watched them as they left, unable to stop them, to convince them that she had changed, that she had understood she loved them, that she needed them in her life.

She ran to the toilets and sealed the door.

She was sobbing. After so many years, she was sobbing.


End file.
